The coronavirus has brought the world to its knees. The virus that originated from China is so highly contagious that it has spread to almost every corner of the globe. This has forced many countries to impose a full lockdown of movement and activities of any kind. India announced a three-week lockdown from April 24 which has now been extended to May 3, 2020. Everyone has been forced to stay at home to contain the spread of the virus. This has also forced everyone to leave their cars parked at home, unloved and not driven for most people. This brings its own set of challenges for car maintenance.
While we have published numerous stories about how to maintain various types of vehicles during the COVID-19 lockdown. Some precautions need to be taken and tips, tricks and measures that need to be followed to keep our precious machines in order.
A type that stands out are mild-hybrid vehicles. A mild-hybridised vehicle is powered by a conventional internal combustion engine which is assisted with a small electric motor. This motor draws energy from a secondary lithium-ion battery that is charged by harnessing the heat generated from the vehicle’s brakes and from the conventional battery in the vehicle when idling. This technology is essentially designed to help ease the load on the engine when accelerating by providing a small boost from the electric motor and also manage the auto stop-start system. This results in improving fuel economy.
Maruti Suzuki offers this technology with some of its models in India. Cars like the Baleno, Ciaz, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, XL6 and S-Cross all come quipped with 12-volt mild-hybrid systems. Speaking to Partho Banerjee, Executive Director (Service), Maruti Suzuki India, Express Drives learnt that mild-hybrid vehicles from Maruti Suzuki need special attention when it comes to maintaining them, if not being driven for long periods of time.
Firstly, while normal ICE-powered vehicles require an idling start time of around 15 minutes, mild-hybrid engines require a longer idle start time. As the mild-hybrid system’s battery drains fairly quickly, if left unused it is prone to discharging. Which is why Marutis with the 12-volt mild-hybrid systems require a longer 30-minute idle start time to be able to fully charge up all the batteries if the car has not been driven for a long duration. Another additional tip recommends from Maruti Suzuki is turning on the headlamps of the car also while the car is idling to get the optimal results.
Why do you need to keep the headlamps on? Let me explain. With two batteries in the vehicle, the engine ignition is handled by the conventional lead-acid battery. The headlamps add additional load to the lead-acid battery the help kickstart the li-ion battery charging process.
Not keeping the headlamps on while idling a Smart Hybrid Maruti Suzuki vehicle will have a negative impact on the vehicle’s performance. As the Lithium-ion battery for the Smart hybrid system would be low on charge, it will not be able to perform as designed until it gets fully charged. When we eventually begin driving our cars, this would result in lower fuel economy than expected as the benefits of the Mild-Hybrid system would not be unavailable for some time. Once the lithium-ion battery reaches the optimum level of charge, the system will be able to offer the desired performance as before.
When eventually the lockdown due to the coronavirus is lifted, vehicle owners will need to ensure their vehicles are in good health. This small quick and easy tip could help keep your Smart Hybrid Maruti Suzuki in optimum condition.
